Head-to-head comparison based on real production benchmarks with Gulf Arabic callers.
Best-in-class Arabic STT with ultra-low latency. Production-tested winner.
High-quality Arabic STT with 44% lower WER than Google Chirp 3.
Accurately captures Gulf Arabic phrases. No user repetitions needed in production calls.
Great quality transcription confirmed by user feedback. No repetitions needed. 44% more accurate than Google Chirp 3.
| Feature | Deepgram Nova-3 | Soniox STT RT v3 |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time streaming transcription | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic language detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Endpointing / end-of-utterance detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Punctuation and formatting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Word-level timestamps | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom vocabulary | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multichannel support | ✓ | ✗ |
| Language hints | ✗ | ✓ |
| Low word error rate | ✗ | ✓ |
| End-of-utterance detection | ✗ | ✓ |
| Capability | Deepgram Nova-3 | Soniox STT RT v3 |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming support | ✓ | ✓ |
| LiveKit plugin | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self-hostable | ✗ | ✗ |
| API style | WebSocket streaming + REST | WebSocket streaming |
| SDKs | Python, Node.js, Go, .NET, Rust | Python, Node.js |
The clear winner for Arabic STT. Deepgram Nova-3 delivers excellent quality at 424ms average EOU delay — fast enough for real-time voice agents.
Previously the best option for Arabic STT. Excellent quality with 16.2% WER, but superseded by Deepgram Nova-3 which is 75% faster with comparable quality.
Deepgram Nova-3 is faster with an average end-of-utterance delay of 424ms, which is 1254ms faster than Soniox STT RT v3.
Deepgram Nova-3 has a quality rating of 5/5 (Excellent). Accurately captures Gulf Arabic phrases. No user repetitions needed in production calls.
Deepgram Nova-3 is recommended for production use. The clear winner for Arabic STT. Deepgram Nova-3 delivers excellent quality at 424ms average EOU delay — fast enough for real-time voice agents.
Deepgram Nova-3 starts at $0.0043 per minute (Nova-3 streaming). Soniox STT RT v3 starts at $0.005 per minute (Real-time streaming).